Pundits say Trump let something slip that may help...

1of22President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Rose Garden at the White House to declare a national emergency in order to build a wall along the southern border, Friday, Feb. 15, 2019, in Washington.Photo: Evan Vucci, AP

2of22See some of the proposed designs submitted for a potential U.S.-Mexico border wall...

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8of22San Diego Project Management

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17of22A San Antonio company with experience in building barriers throughout the world including Iraq and Afghanistan submitted these renderings in its bid to build a border wall prototype.Photo: Courtesy Quantum Logistics

18of22A San Antonio company with experience in building barriers throughout the world including Iraq and Afghanistan submitted these renderings in its bid to build a border wall prototype.Photo: Courtesy Quantum Logistics

19of22A San Antonio company with experience in building barriers throughout the world including Iraq and Afghanistan submitted these renderings in its bid to build a border wall prototype.Photo: Courtesy Quantum Logistics

20of22A San Antonio company with experience in building barriers throughout the world including Iraq and Afghanistan submitted these renderings in its bid to build a border wall prototype.Photo: Courtesy Quantum Logistics

During President Trump's Rose Garden press conference Friday morning, he let something slip that may end up working against his plan.

Trump announced to the media and the public that he had declared a national emergency over the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border in order to secure funding for a border wall. A recent bipartisan deal to fund the government for the duration of the fiscal year allocated far less to building a wall than the president was hoping for.

While responding to a question by NBC News' Peter Alexander during the televised press conference, Trump admitted he didn't "need" to declare a national emergency.

"I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn't need to do this, but I'd rather do it much faster," he said.

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In a comment that could be used to challenge his national emergency declaration on building border wall, President Donald Trump told reporters, "I didn't need to do this, but I'd rather do it much faster." (Feb. 15)

Video: Associated Press

Reporters and political pundits were quick to point out that those words could come back to bite the president if he's sued over the decision to declare an emergency, as is expected.

Just hours after the president's announcement Friday it appeared California was preparing to sue. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra at a joint news conference with Gov. Gavin Newsom said there is no emergency at the border and Trump doesn't have the authority to make the declaration.

"No one in America is above the law, not even the president of the United States," Becerra said. "The president does not have power to act frivolously."

In addition to lawsuits, Trump's move to circumvent Congress may also be challenged in the legislature. Congress has given Trump about $1.4 billion for border barriers, well below the $5.7 billion Trump has insisted he needed to build a wall.

The White House says Trump plans to tap accounts in the Treasury and Defense Departments to find added funding, but not money earmarked for disaster relief.

Alix Martichoux is a producer at SFGATE with a focus on video content. She was born and raised in the Bay Area and graduated from UC Berkeley in 2014. She has also worked at NBC Bay Area and KFOR in Oklahoma City.